Everybody Loves a Parade: Kingston’s Snowflake Festival is Coming!

  |  November 12, 2014
Santa a top an Antique Fire Truck from the Fireman's Museum in Kingston NY.

Santa a top an Antique Fire Truck from the Fireman’s Museum in Kingston NY.

I remember my first year in Manhattan, and how thrilled I was to learn that the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade would right pass by our building. I ran downstairs bright and early that first Thanksgiving morning in New York to see the famed floats and the crowds. Much to my surprise, I learned the Macy’s parade is actually more enjoyable when watched from the warm comfort of your home. In Manhattan, of course, there’s a procession for every occasion: Columbus Day, Scottish Day, St. Patrick’s Day… and on and on. Everybody loves a parade, right?

I didn’t guess I would one day find myself organizing a parade and holiday festival. Flash forward to September 2013, when I was asked by my friend, Robert Tonner, to serve as chairperson of the Uptown Kingston Snowflake Festival and Parade. I remember Gary’s question upon hearing my exciting news: “Do you actually know anything about running a parade?” I replied, “Well, I’ve been to a lot of parades… how difficult can it be?” Yikes! Quick came the realization that a holiday parade and festival has about as many moving parts as Grand Central Station during rush hour.

Who knew there were so many organizations, choral groups, marching bands, fire breathers in Ulster County? Besides which, did you know there are 73 light poles — 73! — in Uptown Kingston, each one requiring holiday decorations. Fortunately, my friend Christine Hein came to my rescue then, agreeing to serve as my co-chair for the Snowflake Festival. As the wife of the County Executive, Christine has been involved with and has walked in many a parade. To make a long story short, despite a pouring cold rain the moment of the parade, last-minute cancellations, and a plethora of other snags and snares, the Snowflake Festival was a huge success.

So here was are a year later and Christine and I are back to work on the 2014 Kingston Uptown Business Association’s Snowflake Parade and Festival. If you are in the valley on Friday, December 5, come to Kingston between 5-8 and join the fun.

About Haynes Llewellyn

Haynes Llewellyn, an interior designer, preservationist and accomplished party planner, relocated to the Hudson Valley city of Kingston from Manhattan’s Central Park West neighborhood in 2007. During Haynes’s almost nine years in the Hudson Valley, he has been featured in numerous television, radio, magazine and newspaper interviews. Haynes’s first Kingston restoration project was of a Historic 1840’s Greek Revival home, featured in the recently released Rizzoli Interior Design book Heart and Home: Rooms that Tell Stories by Linda Okeeffe. Haynes has served on a number of boards of directors, event committees and commissions since arriving in the Hudson Valley. Haynes, along with his two Scottish Terrier Rescues and partner Gary Swenson, is currently in the process of renovating his second Kingston home, a 1939 Colonial.

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